LUDHIANA: Enforcement Directorate seized a Rolex watch worth Rs 12 lakh, unaccounted cash of more than Rs 10 crore, gold and property documents from the residences and offices of Bhupinder Singh Honey, nephew of Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi as part of its searches carried out on 11 premises across Punjab.
The agency has claimed that besides the cash and gold recovery, it has seized “incriminating documents” related to illegal sand mining business from the premises of the accused during the search which continued until Wednesday. The seizures have sparked a political controvery with both AAP and Akalis attacking Channi.
Channi described the searches as Centre’s “revenge act” for the security lapse during PM Narendra Modi’s recent visit and a conpsiracy, drawing an aggressive response from ED. “Blatant lie,” said a senior source when asked about the CM’s charge.
The agency came out with a detailed response emphasising that ED’s investigation was based on an FIR registered by the state police in 2018 when Punjab cops had conducted searches on the premises of many of the accused now being investigated by ED.
“In the aforesaid FIR, it was mentioned that a team comprising of officials of mining department, civil administration and police made a surprise check on March 7, 2018 …Consequently, it was found that several mines were being excavated by various machines and mining was being carried out beyond the designated area,” the ED said. The agency mentioned the seized trucks, JCBs and documentary evidence of illegal mining.
The ED has named Honey and his close associates in a statement released on Wednesday and said entities involved in the scam included Pinjore Royalty Company and Providers Overseas Consultants Pvt Ltd. The searches were conducted at Mohali, Ludhiana, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Pathankot.
Kudratdeep Singh, an accused in Punjab police FIR of 2018 in sand mining case, Bhupinder Singh and Sandeep Kumar are close friends and were earlier based in Ludhiana. The trio were partners in a company which is believed to have been used for laundering the money made by Kudratdeep Singh from illegal sand mining. Sources emphasised that Channi was part of the government which took action against sand mining.
The agency has claimed that besides the cash and gold recovery, it has seized “incriminating documents” related to illegal sand mining business from the premises of the accused during the search which continued until Wednesday. The seizures have sparked a political controvery with both AAP and Akalis attacking Channi.
Channi described the searches as Centre’s “revenge act” for the security lapse during PM Narendra Modi’s recent visit and a conpsiracy, drawing an aggressive response from ED. “Blatant lie,” said a senior source when asked about the CM’s charge.
The agency came out with a detailed response emphasising that ED’s investigation was based on an FIR registered by the state police in 2018 when Punjab cops had conducted searches on the premises of many of the accused now being investigated by ED.
“In the aforesaid FIR, it was mentioned that a team comprising of officials of mining department, civil administration and police made a surprise check on March 7, 2018 …Consequently, it was found that several mines were being excavated by various machines and mining was being carried out beyond the designated area,” the ED said. The agency mentioned the seized trucks, JCBs and documentary evidence of illegal mining.
The ED has named Honey and his close associates in a statement released on Wednesday and said entities involved in the scam included Pinjore Royalty Company and Providers Overseas Consultants Pvt Ltd. The searches were conducted at Mohali, Ludhiana, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Pathankot.
Kudratdeep Singh, an accused in Punjab police FIR of 2018 in sand mining case, Bhupinder Singh and Sandeep Kumar are close friends and were earlier based in Ludhiana. The trio were partners in a company which is believed to have been used for laundering the money made by Kudratdeep Singh from illegal sand mining. Sources emphasised that Channi was part of the government which took action against sand mining.
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